Wbzard Labs
Laravel 13 PHP Requirements and Upgrade Guide: PHP 8.3 Minimum, What's New and PHP2Shell Patching
Back to Blog
Apps & MVPs24 October 2026Vivek3 min read

Laravel 13 PHP Requirements and Upgrade Guide: PHP 8.3 Minimum, What's New and PHP2Shell Patching

Updated 24 October 2026. Confirm details in Laravel's official release notes and upgrade guide.

Laravel is one of the most popular ways to build web apps and MVPs in India, including many startup products in Bangalore. Laravel 13 arrived in March 2026, and the PHP2Shell emergency in October (explained) made its PHP requirements a live topic again.

Laravel 13's PHP requirement

  • Minimum: PHP 8.3
  • Some guides note that later Laravel 13 minor versions can effectively require PHP 8.4 because of dependencies like Symfony 8 components. Check what Composer resolves for your project
  • After PHP2Shell: run at least 8.3.36, 8.4.27 or 8.5.12

Laravel and PHP version matrix (current branches)

LaravelMinimum PHPRecommended PHP in late 2026
Laravel 138.38.4 (patched: 8.4.27+)
Laravel 128.28.3 or 8.4 (PHP 8.2 ends 31 Dec 2026)
Laravel 118.2Upgrade Laravel and PHP
Laravel 10 and older8.1 or lowerUpgrade: framework and PHP are both out of support

PHP support dates: PHP supported versions and end-of-life dates.

What's new in Laravel 13 (as reported)

Third-party coverage highlights:

  • PHP attributes across more of the framework, as an alternative to class properties for configuration
  • A first-party AI SDK for working with AI models
  • Passkey authentication support
  • Semantic / vector search capabilities
  • Smaller additions such as Cache::touch() and a database driver for Reverb
  • A focus on stability with few breaking changes

Sources disagree on some specifics, so read Laravel's official release notes before planning around any feature.

How to upgrade to Laravel 13

1. Upgrade PHP first. Move your servers, CI and local environment to PHP 8.4 (or 8.3.36+). On Docker, pin php:8.4.27-fpm or newer and rebuild with --pull (Docker and Laravel PHP2Shell guide).

2. Get your test suite green on the new PHP with your current Laravel version.

3. Update composer.json:

"require": {
    "php": "^8.3",
    "laravel/framework": "^13.0"
}

Update first-party packages (Sanctum, Horizon, Octane, Telescope and others) to their Laravel 13-compatible versions, then run composer update and resolve conflicts.

4. Follow the official upgrade guide for each change listed, and consider automated tools (such as Laravel Shift) for large codebases.

5. Test thoroughly: automated tests, queues and scheduled jobs, auth flows, file uploads, payments and emails.

6. Deploy to staging, then production, and restart workers (php artisan queue:restart, Horizon, Octane).

PHP2Shell checklist for Laravel apps

  • PHP is a fixed version on every server and container (web, workers, scheduler)
  • PHP-FPM, Apache, Octane, FrankenPHP and queue workers restarted
  • Forge servers updated; Vapor custom and Docker runtimes rebuilt and redeployed
  • session.upload_progress.enabled = 0 set as an interim measure where patching was delayed (why)
  • Logs checked for suspicious activity; secrets in .env rotated if in doubt (checklist)

Laravel, Node.js or no-code for your MVP?

Laravel remains an excellent choice for MVPs with admin panels, payments and complex business logic. We compare options in no-code vs custom MVPs and PHP vs Node.js. For budgeting, see MVP development cost in India.

Where we fit

We build and maintain web apps and MVPs for startups in Bangalore and beyond, keeping frameworks, PHP and infrastructure up to date with CI/CD. See MVP and app development.

Need a Laravel upgrade or a security review? Get in touch.

Sources

Filed underApps & MVPs

Wbzard Labs

Want this done for your business?

We help founders in Bangalore and Shivamogga launch with a website, social media, SEO and ads that work together. Tell us about your business and get a free launch plan.

Get Your Free Launch Plan